Material feed apparatus for automatic multiple press



M. GAVAZZI Oct. "10, 196.1

MATERIAL FEED APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC MULTIPLE PRESS Filed Dec. 9, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 los M Nuo 6mm 1.11

\NvEN-rore in- KTT ys M. GAVAZZI Oct. 10, I961 MATERIAL FEED APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC MULTIPLE PRESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 9,- 1954 Oct. 10, .1961 M. GAVAZZI 3,003,447

MATERIAL FEED APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC MULTIPLE PRESS Filed Dec. 9; 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I MANL\ GAVE-L1 VENTOQ M. GAVAZZI Oct. 1 0 .1961

MATERIAL FEED APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC MULTIPLE PRESS Filed Dec. 9, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 3,003,447 MATERIAL FEED APPARATUS FQR AUTO- MATIC MULTEPLE PRESS Maniio Gavazzi, Via Gabriele dAnnunzio 25, Florence, Italy Filed Dec. 9, 1954, Ser. N 474,263 9 Claims. (Cl. 11342) The invention relates to an apparatus designed to feed sheet material to multiple presses for pressing of elements obtained from metallic sheet by means of successive cuts which are effected by a plurality of dies of the press. In machines of this kind there is a cyclically slidable assembly carrying a plurality of dies designed to cooperate with an equal number of lower or stationary dies for the execution of successive pressing works, embossing and punching, for the production of a metallic sheet element; these machines include an automatic device, designed to timely transfer the single elements into the successive dies in order to carry out the working cycle.

Presently the elementsmore particularly in the form of discs-obtained from the metallic strip or the like are sheared from the strip or the like for the working in a separate seat from that of the dies and stationary die assembly, and therefore there is a complex apparatus for the carrying of said sheared elements on said multiple press.

The invention relates instead to a device which allows the feed of the sheet material, more particularly under the condition of a strip, to the first of a series of dies which form a part of a multiple press, said device being designed to introduce the continuous strip under the first of said dies, which effects the shearing and a first embossing of the element to be worked. Thereafter, the process continues by the raising of the movable member of the die carried by a mechanical arrangement and successively moving the metal under the other dies, while the remaining material in the form of a strip or the like is raised in order to allow the conveying of the same and its progressive removal.

According to the invention, the apparatus includes a strip feed system, or the like, which is carried under a die which shears the element, for example a disc, and then effects a first embossing stage, by which the element assumes a shape such as to be seized by the so-called mechanical hand and conveyed to another die. The die assembly therefore includes a plurality of expellers designed, through the spacing between the upper and lower dies, to expel the semi-worked element which is seized and conveyed by arms, more especially flexible arms, of the so-called mechanical hand, while the strip or the like, from which the element has been sheared, through the raising of the dies movable member, is raised in such a way as to allow the translation of the semi-worked element by means of the mechanical hand.

For the operation of the cyclical rise of the suitably fed strip or the like, there are some arms, arranged on the opposite side of the die and whereon the strip or the like is laid and the strip is raised from said arms through appropriate means, for example by elastic expellers or the like, and the strip and the relative arms, whereon it lies, being cyclically lowered by the die movable member. The assembly should be such as to allow the expulsion of the semi-worked element, sufliciently displaced relative to the strip or the like, wherefrom it has been sheared, in order to allow the translation of said semi-worked element without any obstructions by the strip or the like.

Said strip or the like, even after the shearing of the elements, is kept under the condition of a continuous strip and is removed by the same feed motion and may be destroyed so as to gather the residues by means of a 3,%3,447 Patented Oct. 10, 1961 so-called breaking machine, for example, a shearing machine, which cuts it and breaks its continuity.

The drawings illustrtae a diagrammatic embodiment.

In said drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a view of a partial cross-section of a multiple press according to the invention, taken along the line II of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 illustrates a horizontal section according to the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a transverse section, in an enlarged scale, taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2, showing the feed device;

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate on a larger scale than FIG. 3 a detail of the mechanism in the shearing position and in the transferring position respectively of a worked sheared element;

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate details of the mechanism in a horizontal section in the shearing position and in the engaging position respectively of the worked sheared element;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side View of the shearing die during the shearing operation;

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of the single mechanical members for the strip feed control.

In the drawings, a stationary frame 1 carries the bed 2 on which is arranged a plurality of male die members cooperable with moving female die members. A shaft 3 driven at one end through a gear 4 is mounted on the frame 1. The shaft 3 is provided with two cranks 5 for two connecting rods 6, capable of being adjusted in accordance to their length. The connecting rods are connected to corresponding slidable uprights 7 vertically guided in appropriate seats 8 of the bed 2; a cross-bar 9 is connected to the slidable uprights 7 and said cross-bar 9 through the rotation of the shaft 3 elfects cyclical displacements in the vertical direction. Two columns 10 are integral with bearings 8 which are in turn integral with the bed 2. The two columns it} carry rods along which the crossbar 9 rides vertically. The cross-bar 9 carries a plurality of dies designed to cooperate with the stationary dies carried by the bed 2.

In the embodiment herein illustrated, there are five dies iii, l2, l3, l4 and 15 respectively, cooperating with a same number of stationary dies, the first of said stationary dies cooperating with the movable female mem beer or die it is separated from the successive ones, which are formed by adjacent blocks 16. The die 11 and the respective stationary die are more particularly described hereinafter. The die 11 and the successive dies 12 to 15 with their relative stationary dies are actuated in such a way as to obtain progressive passes in order to attain a definitive form of the completed object.

In order to transfer the element being worked to the successive dies, there is a so-calied mechanical hand device, which includes two plates 13 provided with opposite parallel edges, wherein there are appropriate grooves, which, when the plates are approached, engage the worked elements expelled by the dies and may transfer them from one die to the next by means of a longitudinal displacement in the direction of the arrow 18a of FIG. 2. The mechanical hand also includes two leaf springs 19, also integral to the cross-bars 2i) that carry the plates 18; said leaves 19 are provided with a pair of grooves along the opposite edges for the pick-up of the semi-worked element from under the first die. The motion of the cross-bar 2%) of the mechanical hand includes two alter:

' of said elements from one die to the next one, the enlargement of said plates and leaves for the expulsion of the elements on the next die, and the new relative approach thereof so as to engage the successive elements.

The mechanical hand operates as follows: A cam 191 formed by a cylindrical element provided with a profiled channel 101a along the cylindrical surface is mounted on shaft 3 adjacent gear wheel 4 (see FIG. 1). Lever 162 is linked to a pin 193 carried by a bracket 103a on frame 1. Pin 102a of lever 102 is engaged in channel 101a. The lever 192 is linked to a pin 104a in a tranverse member 194. Member 194 bears a transverse guide Iii ab on which link blocks 165 are slidable. Crossbars 24) are connected to link blocks 105. The cross-bars 20 are slidably supported at their opposite ends by similar link blocks slidably mounted on another transverse guide. The link blocks supporting the cross-bars are simultaneously and symmetrically moved with respect to a vertical plane passing through the geometrical axis of the dies and through levers 106.

Members 104 are supported at their ends by two shafts 107a and 107b which are axially slidable on base 2. Levers 106 have end heads slidably engaged in the link blocks 105 and are secured to the shafts 167a and 107i). The two shafts 107a and 10711 are rigidly secured to the transverse members 1194 so that they are reciprocally slided thereby in opposite directions when lever 192 is pivoted to move the members 104.

Shafts 167a and 1671) may effect symmetrical angular movements around their respective geometric axes. For this purpose, the two shafts are rotatably but slidably engaged by two levers 108 and 109 keyed at 10812 and to keyways in the shafts. Lever 108 is provided with an arm 108a to which rod 111 is linked. The rod 111 is linked at its lower end to a lever 112 hinged to frame 1. The lever is movable in an oscillatory manner by a cam 113 driven by shaft 3. The cam contacts a roller 114 carried by lever 112. The system 103-114 actuates the shafts 197a, 1071; so that they move angularly in a symmetircal reciprocal manner.

As levers 106 are reciprocated they move the respec tive engaged link blocks 105 on the guides 104a. Thus the cross-bars 20 are longitudinally reciprocated responsive to pivotal movement of lever 102.

The apparatus for the feed of the sheet for the shearing of the elements is arranged in correspondence of the first die denoted by 11 and is formed in the following way:

A box 21 is located on one side of the bed or frame 1 and said box contains a coil 22 of the metallic strip to be fed, said coil being rotatably mounted on a shaft 23. The coil 22 is partly submerged in an appropriate fluid (not shown). A strip 24 is unwound from the coil 22 transversely to the alignment of the dies and passes through two pairs of rollers 25, 26 and 27, 28, oppositely arranged relative to the die 11, said rollers being designed for feed of the strip, which, in this way, passes under the die 11; the two lower rollers 25 and 27 are provided with a fixed axle and the upper ones 26 and 28 are carried by bearing stirrups 29 and 30 and pressed against the rollers 25, 27 by the spring-urged pistons 31. The rollers 26, 28 are also rotated as shown in FIG. 9 by pairs of gears 32, 33 departing from the lower rollers 25, 27 so as to obtain in the assembly the feed of the strip 24 which is effected by intermittent displacements, whose extent depends upon the dimension of the element to be sheared. In order to obtain this intermittent motion, there is a pair of bevel gears 34 which delivers the motion of the shaft 3 to a shaft 35, wherefrorn the motion through a gear 36 is delivered to a gear 37 with eccentric pin driving the crank 38. The crank adjustably reciprocates the motion of a plate or segment 39 rotatably mounted on a shaft 40 and provided with a plurality of pawls 41, designed to cooperate with an inclined toothed or ratchet wheel 42 which is angularly displaced by an amount practically constant to each rotation of the eccentric 37.

Wheel 42 axially supported on the shaft actuates, through a pair of gears 43, the shaft 44 which rotates a bevel gear 45 meshing corresponding bevel gears 46 in order to intermittently rotate the shaft 47. This shaft is mounted on the roller 27. The motion is also transmitted from the shaft 47 to the roller 25 through a pair of bevel gears 48, a transversal shaft 49, a second pair of bevel gears 59 and a shaft 51 on which roller 25 is mounted. The movable pin in gear 37 permits changing the lengths by which the strip 24 is unwound from the coil 22 and passes over the dies 11.

Strip 24 comes out of the pair of rollers 27, 28 and lies on the surfaces of an oscillating member 53 pivoted at 54, on the bearing stirrups 30 of the upper roller 28. The oscillating member 53 extends to the proximity of the die 11. A similar element 55 pivoted at 56 receives the strip and conveys it to the pair of rollers 25 and 26.

The two oscillating elements 53, 55 are upwardly stressed by two spring pressed abutment members 57 and 58 respectively, which are formed by rods guided in the lower stationary block 60 of the die 11 and the bed 2 stressed by helical springs 61, 62 respectively. In this way until the crossbar 9 is lowered for the shearing operation, the strip 24 is kept raised by the elements 53, 54 from the lower stationary die.

In the embodiment, disc elements are sheared from the strip 24. The dimensions of said elements allow the strip to be kept intact and then the strip is passed through the second pair of rollers 25, 26. Then the residue of the strip is appropriately demolished for the recovery of the material. For this purpose there is a shearing or splitting apparatus arranged on a stationary bearing 65 and on the opposite side of the bearing box 21. The shearing apparatus includes a link 66 bound through a tie-rod 66a to a crank 67 bound at its opposite end to the cross-bar 9 by means of a rotatable connection 68. The slidable apparatus 70 of a shearing tool 71 is connected to crank 67 through a link 69. The shearing tool cooperates with a stationary corner 72 carried by the bearing 65 so as to form a shearing apparatus which cyclically cuts the residue of the strip 24 every time the cross bar 9 is lowered. Thus every time the strip is fed the pieces 24a, in which the residue of the strip is divided, slide on a sloped plane 72a and are suitably collected. Upward biasing spring means 71a are appropriately connected to the movable tool 71.

The die 11, to which the material is fed, must be made in such a way as to provide for the shearing of the strip and to a first pressing of the element to be obtained, for example, an embossing of said element, besides being capable of expelling, through the rise of the cross-bar 9, the semi-worked element so that it may be seized and conveyed by the leaves 19 from die 11 to the next die 12.

In the embodiment, the stationary die in question includes a stationary turret 75 on the block 60. The turret has a substantially truncated cone profile wherein a yieldable tubular member 76 is housed. The member is carried by slidable guide stems 77 connected by a lower plate 78 housed in the bed 2 and upwardly biased by a spring 79 against the shoulder of the stationary turret 75'. The tubular member 76 encloses a central stationary member 80 which extends through the yieldable tubular member 76 and is located at the level of the orifice of the turret 75.

The movable die 11, connected to the cross-bar 9, includes an appropriate shaped block 81 which may be easily locked on and unlocked from the cross-bar 9 by bolt 83. Block 81 is guided on columns 84 fixed to the block 60. An element 86 downwardly extending like a tubular sleeve, is fixed to the block 81. A cup-shaped element 87 is slidably housed in the interior of the element 86. The cup-shaped element is downwardly stressed until it strikes against the interior shoulders of element 86 through an appropriately guided spring 88 in such a way that said cup 87 is located at the same level of the lower edges of the sleeve 86. The tubular sleeve 86 is surrounded by a ring 89 which is slidable along said sleeve, being carried by rods 90, guided in the block 81, and helical springs 91 coaxially mounted on the rods 9% in order to stress said ring 89 downwardly.

The above described die has the following operation:

At the start of the operation, member $9 as illustrated in FIG. 5, lowers the oscillating members 53, 55 and therefore the strip until the latter lies on the stationary turret 75. The leaves 19 of the mechanical hand are arranged under the die 12 and are spread apart like the plates 1% after having expelled the semi-worked pieces at the dies 12, 13, i4, 15-. By lowering the cross-bar 9, the outer corner of the sleeve 86, cooperating with the corner of the turret housing '75, shears the disc from the strip 24, and then by an additional lowering, also lowers the tubular member 76 and determines a first embossing of the element so as to form the semi-worked piece 93 as illu trated in FIG. 5. The sleeve 86 cooperates during this stage of the operation with the central stationary member 89. I11 the reverse stroke, the tubular member 76 acts as an expeller on the piece 93. The piece thus is slipped oi? the tap 8% while the cup 87 expels the same piece 93 out of the sleeve 86. The ring 89 acts as an expelle-r so as to slip the strip 24 off the sleeve as which has sheared the disc. At the end of the rise of the cross-bar 9, the semi-worked element Wa is released from the turret 75 and the strip is raised by the expellers 57, 58 which raise the elements 53, 55. At this time, the cross-bars 26 of the mechanical hand, have been moved in the direction of the arrow 94 of H6. 7 and have opened and carried the leaves 19 relative to the turret 75 and directly above thereof. This is facilitated by the truncated cone profile or" the turret. The cross-bars are mutually approached and embrace the element 93 as illustrated in PEG. 5 and then carry it, moving in the direction of the airow 9'5 of HG. 6, under the die 12, translating the mechanical hand from the position of FIG. 7 to the position of FIG. 6. The plates 18 simultaneously move the semi-worked pieces successively under the different dies from 12 to 15. The element which has undergone the complete work under the die 15 is released by the plates 13 of the mechanical hand and by means of a blowing nozzle 96, which promptly, after the mechanical hand has released the element, ejects a jet of compressed air or the like to push the element into a chute 97 (see FIG. 2) leading it to a suitable collecting bin.

The drawings only illustrate a schematic embodiment of the invention which may be varied in its forms and arrangements.

What I claim is:

l. in a multiple press for die-forming strip material in a plurality of stages, including a bed structure, a unit vertically displaceable relative to said bed structure, stationary die-means carried by such bed structure, a plurality of dies carried by said vertically displaceable unit, said plurality of dies movable jointly with said vertically displaceable unit toward respective die means to work upon a portion of said strip material, the combination of: movable initial shearing and embossing means supported by said vertically displaceable unit, stationary initial shearing and embossing means spaced from said movable shearing and embossing means and being supported by said bed structure, said stationary and movable shearing embossing means being adapted to matingly engage each other and being further adapted to sever a portion of said strip material being fed into said multiple press, means operatively connected to said bed structure for intermittently feeding said strip material between said initial stationary and movable embossing means, means operatively connected to said stationary initial shearing and embossing means adapted to eject upwardly said severed portion of strip material therefrom, biasing means movably connected to said bed structure adapted to yieldingly support said strip material and raise the same above the position of said ejected severed portion when said movable initial shearing and embossing means is raised with respect to said stationary shearing and embossing means, and means slidably connected to said bed structure and being adapted to move said ejected and severed portion of strip material transversely to the direction by which said strip material is fed into said multiple press on its way to the die-means.

2. In a press as defined in claim 1, wherein said means for yieldingly supporting and raising said strip material includes a pair of spring-urged members pivotally mounted on each side of said stationary initial shearing and embossing means on said bed and spring-urged ring means coaxially mounted on said movable initial shearing and embossing means, said ring means serving to lower said pair of spring urged members when lowered together with said initial movable shearing and embossing means, raising of said initial movable shearing and embossing means together with said ring means permitting said yielding support means to be raised under the urging of said spring-urged members abutting thereagainst.

3. A press as defined in claim 1, wherein said initial moving shearing and embossing means includes a sleeve member vertically displaceable together with said unit, a cup in said sleeve and urged into a position substantially flush with the end of said sleeve, and wherein said initial stationary shearing and embossing means includes a central stationary member, and a tubular member surrounding said stationary member and urged into a position substantially flush with the end of said stationary member, displacement of said unit together with said initial moving shearing and embossing means causing said sleeve member of said initial moving shearing and embossing means to depress said tubular member of said initial stationary shearing and embossing means to depress said cup against their respective urgings, to thereby shear a piece from said strip and emboss said sheared piece.

4. A press as defined in claim 1, wherein the strip feeding means includes a pair of spaced leaf springs extending parallel to said strip, means for displacing said leaf springs toward and away from each other to grasp a piece on said initial stationary die shearing and embossing means after embossing thereof, and means for reciprocating said leaf springs transversely of said initial stationary shearing and embossing means to carry said piece from said initial stationary shearing and embossing means to the next pair of die members, whereby said piece is first formed, grasped as said leaf springs move toward each other, conveyed by said leaf springs to the next pair of die members, and left on said next pair of die members as said leaf springs move away from each other, said leaf springs then returning to said initial stationary shearing and embossing means in open position to repeat the cycle.

5. A press as defined in claim 4, wherein said strip feeding means further includes a pair of spaced plates disposed transversely of said leaf springs and moving together therewith, said plates serving to advance pieces from said embossing means other than said initial stationary shearing and embossing means to the next adjacent pair of die members.

6. A press as defined in claim 1, wherein the means for intermittently feeding said strip material includes a plurality of pairs of rollers, one roller of each pair of rollers being located at one side of said strip and having a fixed axis of rotation, a plurality of stirrups located at the other side of said strip, said stirrups being movable toward and away from said strip, the other roller of each pair being rotatably mounted in one of said stirrups, spring means acting on each stirrup and urging said other roller mounted therein yieldingly toward the other side of said strip, and drive means including a gear train connected to drive said rollers.

7. A press as defined in claim 6, wherein said means for driving said rollers includes a primary shaft rotatable for actuating said press, gear means driven by said primary shaft, a crankadjustably connected with said gear means, a second shaft carrying a ratchet wheel, a segment loosely mounted about said second shaft and provided with pawl means cooperating with said ratchet wheel, said segment being connected with said crank so that rotation of said primary shaft produces intermittent rotation of said second shaft through the intermediary of said gear means, said crank, said segment, said pawl means and said ratchet wheel, and means operatively connecting said second shaft with said rollers to thereby intermittently drive said rollers and intermittently feed said strip material.

8. A press as defined in claim 6, including reciprocable splitting means positioned beyond said pairs of rollers of said feeding structure, means operatively connecting said splitting means with said unit, for actuating said splitting means to transversely out said strip beyond the second of said pairs of rollers into discontinuous lengths.

9. In a multiple press for die-forming strip material in a plurality of stages, including a bed structure, a unit vertically displaceable relative to said bed structure, stationary die-means carried by such bed structure, a plurality of dies carried by said vertically displaceable unit, said plurality of dies movable jointly with said vertically displaceable unit toward respective die means to work upon a portion of said strip material, the combination of: a stationary annular member mounted on said vertically displaceable unit, a movable projecting member yieldingly mounted on said vertically displaceable unit coaxial with said annular member, a stationary projecting member mounted on said bed structure opposite said movable projecting member, a movable annular member yieldingly supported by said bed structure opposite said stationary annular member coaxial with said movable projecting member, said movable and stationary member and said movable and stationary annular members 8 a being adapted to shear and emboss said strip material when fed therebetween, said movable annular member being further adapted to eject a severed embossed portion of said strip material thereafter, means operatively connected to said bed structure for intermittently feeding said strip material between said movable and stationary projecting members, biasing means movably connected to said bed structure adapted to yieldingly support said strip material and raise the same above the position of said ejected severed portion when said stationary annular member is raised with respect to said movable annular member, and means slidably connected to said bed structure and being adapted to move said ejected and severed portion of strip material transversely to the direction by which said strip material is fed into said multiple press.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,179,960 Palmer Apr. 18, 1916 1,288,037 Kotzich Dec. 17, 1918 1,421,354 Littell June 27, 1922 1,725,300 Pierson et al. Aug. 20, 1929 2,012,423 Ferris Aug. 27, 1935 2,049,915 Lewis Aug. 4, 1936 2,177,027 Plumb Oct. 24, 1939 2,257,446 Amidon Sept. 30, 1941 2,283,505 Longfield May 19, 1942 2,492,886 Punte Dec. 27, 1949 2,582,063 Zitzewitz Jan. 8, 1952 2,712,169 Buttress July 5, 1955 OTHER REFERENCES How to Feed Presses, American Machinist; November 20, 1947; pp. -89 relied on. (Copy in Scientific Library.) 

